Window factory sit-in ends with 90-day reprieve for workers

Workers have ended their sit-in at the former Republic Windows and Doors factory on Goose Island. (Chris Walker/Tribune file)

The president of the union at a window factory in Goose Island said he is hoping to find new owners or raise funds to purchase it.

Armando Robles, president of United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America Local 1110, said his vision is for workers to own and operate the plant.

Dozens of workers locked themselves inside the plant’s cafeteria Thursday afternoon after being told that their employer, California-based Serious Energy, was closing the factory and consolidating operations in Colorado and Pennsylvania. They ended a sit-in early Friday morning after the company agreed to keep the plant open for 90 days.

It’s the second time UE workers take over the plant in a desperate move to save their jobs. In December 2008, their employer Republic Windows & Doors abruptly shut the plant and laid off 250 workers.

Union leaders organized a six-day sit-in demanding vacation, severance pay and temporary health care benefits. The battle drew national media attention, and after three days of negotiations, workers reached a $1.75 million settlement.

In 2009, Serious Energy bought the 268,000-square-foot plant for $1.45 million with the promise of hiring back the former Republic workers.

Robles said the new company started with seven workers, and as production increased, Serious Energy hired 65 more. In October, the company announced 33 layoffs. On Thursday, Robles said he learned the company’s plan to close the factory.

"Ongoing economic challenges in construction and building products, collapse in demand for window products, difficulty in obtaining favorable lease terms, high leasing and utility costs and taxes and a range of other factors unrelated to labor costs, have compelled Serious to cease production at the Chicago facility," the company said Thursday.